BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Research Center H.B. 233
79R1539 YDB-D By: Martinez (Lucio)
AUTHOR'S/SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT
Currently, emergency medical services (EMS) cannot respond to an accident, fire, disaster, or any other emergency situation outside their respective municipality without the scene first being secured by a law enforcement officer of that county or municipality if there is a possible threat of any kind against the ambulance personnel. For various reasons, a municipal police officer may arrive on a crime scene before a county law enforcement officer, but the municipal police officer is not able to secure the area because it lies outside of the officer's jurisdiction. The EMS team is therefore unable to administer emergency care until the officer employed by that jurisdiction arrives and secures the scene. This could result in the victims of the crime or accident being denied immediate emergency care.
H.B. 233 amends Chapter 774, Health and Safety Code, to provide a municipality the option to allow a municipal police officer to accompany a municipal ambulance to a scene outside its respective municipality whenever the ambulance personnel can be placed in harm's way.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. Amends Chapter 774, Health and Safety Code, by adding Section 774.004, as follows:
Sec. 774.004. MUNICIPAL POLICE OFFICER RESPONSE ACCOMPANYING MUNICIPAL AMBULANCE RESPONSE OUTSIDE MUNICIPALITY. (a) Provides that this section applies to certain emergency medical services agreements between two municipalities or between a county and a municipality.
(b) Authorizes the agreement to authorize police officers employed by the responding municipality to secure the scene of an emergency, accident, fire, or disaster to which the municipality's emergency ambulance service responds under the agreement.
SECTION 2. Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2005.